News

Fifteen leading experts on Africa’s extractive industries assembled on 24 February 2015, for a lively discussion at UNHQ on the theme, “Towards the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the African Union Agenda 2063-Enhancing the management of Africa’s extractive industries to promote sustainable and inclusive industrial development, structural economic transformation and inclusive and resilient economic growth.”

Fifteen leading experts on Africa’s extractive industries assembled on 24 February 2015, for a lively discussion at UNHQ on the theme, “Towards the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the African Union Agenda 2063-Enhancing the management of Africa’s extractive industries to promote sustainable and inclusive industrial development, structural economic transformation and inclusive and resilient economic growth.”

Representatives of Member States, UN entities and non-governmental organizations got together recently in Geneva at informal roundtable. UNMAS Programme Managers from Afghanistan and Palestine presented updates about the humanitarian mine action work underway and triggered discussions on key issues, challenges, and responses.

The Department of Public Information has launched a new website to highlight the importance of 2015 for the UN system (www.un.org/action2015)

The website supports the UN campaign 2015: Time for Global Action and promotes the distinct processes that will lead to significant outcomes this year. The website does not replace or compete with any other website, and instead, is meant to be a portal to the many websites featuring sustainability issues.

The Department of Political Affairs’ presence on social media is relatively new but growing. DPA joined Twitter, the platform that now counts the vast majority of the UN’s 193 Member States as participants, in 2012. The Department, along with the ever greater number of government officials active on Twitter, are all staking a distinct claim in the burgeoning digital diplomacy universe.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library is presenting an exploration of the seventy key documents that have shaped the United Nations and our world. The online exhibit - 70 Years, 70 Documents - showcases the vital documents of the United Nations.

You are invited to participate in an online consultation for the World Humanitarian Summit launching this week to gather your ideas and recommendations on how to keep humanitarian action fit for future crises. The discussion will inform the Regional Consultation Meeting for the Middle East and North Africa taking place in Amman, Jordan, from 3-5 March 2015.

The world has just come through a year of discord, disease and disruption, the Secretary-General said in his December press conference – a sentiment reflected in the latest figures from the Department of Political Affairs which show the Security Council held 263 meetings in 2014, an increase of 36 per cent over the previous year.

DPKO-DFS in collaboration with 40 Member States and field missions are developing 11 United Nations military manuals to standardize military contributions to peacekeeping operations. The project, called United Nations Military Units Manuals (UNMUM), kick-started officially in November 2013 by the Office of Military Affairs.

Plans for a monumental sculpture called “The ReBirth” to celebrate the United Nations’ 70th anniversary have been unveiled in Geneva. Designed by world-renowned Italian artist Maestro Michelangelo Pistoletto, the sculpture will be located in Ariana Park and inaugurated on UN Day next year - 24 October 2015 – during an Open Day at the Palais des Nations.